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American Citizens in Mexico

It’s 8 AM at the Mexican-American border and there is already a lengthy line forming at the Port of Entry. No, it’s not made up of tourists and families. Instead, it’s made up almost exclusively of children carrying backpacks filled with notebooks, markers, and lunches. Where are these children going? They’re going to school.

For almost 800 American students, this is a daily norm. JoAnna is no different. A fifth grader at a public school in Columbus, New Mexico, JoAnna, an American citizen, lives with her family in Palomas, Mexico.

For her, it’s a free education as New Mexico’s state constitution grants American citizens a free education no matter where they reside. However, hundreds of other students cross the border to attend costly private schools in places such as El Paso, Texas.

Many of these children have parents who were deported by the American government. Instead of sacrificing their child’s education or leaving the deported family member behind, they move to border cities in Mexico where they can have the best of both worlds–a family and the opportunity of an American education.

In JoAnna’s school, two-thirds of the students live in Palomas. It would be easy for the children from Columbus to isolate those living in Mexico, but instead they interact just like any other group of fifth grade girls. “We usually talk about what we’re going to play outside and secrets…But I can’t tell you,” JoAnna laughs.